The White Shirt
by horrorphile
Summary: Daryl returns to Alexandria wanting to take his relationship with Carol to a new level. She has changed out of the happy homemaker wardrobe and is wearing a white shirt. Daryl really likes the white shirt. Nothing serious here.


The White Shirt

Daryl breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the walls of Alexandria were still standing. His motorcycle had run out of gas last night and he had spent the night in a tree. At dawn this morning he had fought his way through a group of walkers and he had started walking toward home. Something bad had happened here while he was away. He could see damage on the walls but they were standing. The area around Alexandria looked as if someone had taken a bulldozer and cleared out the debris and trees surrounding it. "About damn time," he muttered to himself.

He saw that there were a few walkers around and he kept himself on high alert as he moved along the road waving to Spencer to open the gate. Fear knotted his stomach. Was Carol alright? Was Judith alright? Carl? Rick? Michonne?"

Michonne welcomed him just inside the gate with an unexpected hug, "Daryl, we have been so worried about you." _Got captured, tied up, killed people. Pretty much business as usual._

Daryl let her hug him and then pulled away, "Is Carol alright? And Judith?" _Tell me, damn it. Tell me they are alive_.

Michonne favored him with that teasing smile that lit her face up, "Your girls are alright. Carol was a one woman army protecting this place when the wolves got in. We lost a lot of people here in town because we couldn't get back because of the herd. Glenn's still missing." Her voice had lost its happy lilt. _He'll be back. Short round always makes it back._

Rick came running up and caught him in a bear hug, "Good to see you, brother."

 _What is wrong with these people? Hugging on him like he had been gone for a year_. "You said the wolves got in here? How did that happen?" _Did it happen because he didn't come back?_

"It looks like they just came in over the walls. They weren't carrying guns. Just used hand tools to hack people to death. Morgan got back in time to fight and Carol was here of course. Aaron and Rosita." Rick's seemed sad and defeated. There were bloodstains on the sidewalks and the streets and Daryl knew that most of the victims had been going about their daily lives thinking that they were safe behind these walls. _Welcome to Planet Reality, we have much to teach you_.

"I'm going home." Didn't want to hear any more about the attack. He hadn't been here. Carol had been left once again to defend Judith without him. Rick and Michonne walked with him.

"Carol and Morgan are making breakfast. She is going to be so glad to see that you are home." Michonne gave her sly little smile. Smirking at him like she would over the campfire at night as they hunted for the governor. Teasing him about missing his pookie when he was away from the prison.

 _It went over Rick's head. Most things did unless it had to do with protecting their family. Maybe that was why the man was fucking nuts most of the time. He needed a hobby or maybe just to get laid. Rick was a fool to sniff after Jessie. Why couldn't he see that he and Michonne were a perfect match? Man was missing what was under his nose._

Then they were up the steps and into the house and it smelled of coffee and something sugary and sweet. Daryl headed toward the kitchen. Carol and Morgan were sitting on the kitchen stools and talking. Carol was looking down the hall toward the front door and he saw the flash of her smile when she recognized him. She got up and poured him a cup of coffee and he wondered why she didn't hug him. _Hell, he had been hugged by the Samurai and the Deputy. Nada from the Queen. Didn't she care that he had barely made it home alive?_

He took the coffee though and saw that she had made some sort of pastry. She smiled at him again, "I made cinnamon rolls. Do you want some?" He nodded yes and she put a roll on a plate for him. It pissed him off that she had made his favorite treat when he was away. _Like she was celebrating that he might be dead out there and never coming back_.

Rick and Michonne were scrambling for their share of the rolls. Morgan glanced at him, "It must have been tough out there."

Morgan was always saying shit like that. Like he wanted Daryl to talk about what had happened out there and all Daryl wanted to do was sit here in the kitchen and not think about being tied up and waiting for a walker to come and make a meal out of his flesh. Carol was watching him and he wanted all these people to go away and let him sit here with her in peace. Carol glanced at the monitor, "Judith's waking up. I'll go get her."

Daryl sat there but wanted to follow her up to Judith's room. Wanted to watch Carol talk to Judith before she picked her up. Wanted to Judith hold out her arms for Carol and to see Judith grin toothlessly at him. Wanted to touch them both and know by some miracle they were safe. Instead he watched the monitor.

Rick asked, "What happened to you. Abe and Sasha made it in late yesterday." Daryl told his story in as few words as possible and kept his eyes on the monitor. Carol played peek a boo with Judith who squealed in response. Carol changed her diaper and put a little dress on Judith. She would be back in a minute.

Carol carried Judith into the kitchen and Daryl noticed that she had changed her shirt. She had been wearing one of her soccer mom shirts and now she was wearing a snug white shirt. And she went from the happy homemaker to hot warrior just that easily. This shirt emphasized her breasts and she had to fucking know that. Morgan's eyes were not on Judith. Even Rick gazed a little too long at the puppies. He noticed then that the mom jeans were gone and the tight cargo pants were back. The flat shoes were gone and the boots were back. That should have made him happy but it didn't. She sure as hell wasn't invisible in that outfit. Every man in Alexandria and probably a few women would be noticing how her ass looked in those pants.

He chewed on his cinnamon roll and looked at the shirt again. Sneaky like. He didn't want Carol to think he was perving on her. It was snug all over but it wasn't showing as much skin as when she used to wear the tank tops at the prison. He had loved those tank tops. Then she went all commando with boots and cargo pants. Then here in Alexandria the soccer mom clothes. Now this outfit. Was it because of Morgan? Did she want him to notice her? _Sorry, Obi-Wan Kenobi. I ain't giving up that easily. Just too tired to fight right now_.

Suddenly he lost his appetite. "Going to clean up. Take a nap." Judith was cooing at Morgan when he went upstairs.

The warm water eased the soreness in his body and Daryl tried to calm himself down. It was only a damn white shirt. He thought she looked hot in it and his dick agreed with him. Daryl decided to just let both of them enjoy the fantasy of Carol taking off the shirt. It worked for both of them and he wasn't as tense when he got dressed. He needed to sleep. He hadn't slept much in the last couple of days. He usually slept on the couch but everyone was down there talking. Maybe he could nap in Carol's room. He went out in the hall and he could hear the four of them talking in the kitchen and he decided to just lie down there for a few minutes. Her pillow smelled like Carol's shampoo and he drifted off to sleep thinking about her.

It was afternoon when he woke again. Carol was in the kitchen feeding Judith when he went downstairs. Still wearing the white shirt. Still looking sexy. Daryl wondered if he was some kind of perv. Carol had been through hell lately. She needed kind words and emotional support and all he could think of is wondering about the exact color of her nipples. He was definitely going to hell which might be an upgrade considering his present location.

"There's vegetable soup on the stove and bread and peanut butter if you want a sandwich." Carol wiped Judith's face with a soft cloth and put her in the little walker.

Daryl maneuvered around the careening infant and made a sandwich and filled a bowl with hot soup and began to eat. "Soup's good. It's feels good to be home." He finished his lunch too quickly.

Carol was wiping off the counter now avoiding his eyes, "Bad out there?" _Just another near death experience. I think I saw the tunnel with the lights at the end this time._

Daryl nodded, "Bad everywhere but right here, right now." He watched her fiddle with the dish towel. Judith had gotten stuck in a corner and he picked her up. "Missed you and Jude while I was gone. I wanted to be here when everything went to shit." _I'm trying here._

He moved closer to Carol. Judith pulling at his hair with a death grip. "Let's take a vacation. Where do you want to go this year?"

"We went to Disneyland last year, so how about just going to the beach? Judith can play in the sand. You can go deep sea fishing and I'll work on my tan." Carol was smiling at him and it felt almost as good as that hot shower did. He wanted to keep her smiling.

Daryl laughed, "You mean work on your freckle collection. Woman, you ain't never going to have a tan." He glanced down at the slight coating of freckles revealed by her unbuttoned top and reluctantly brought his eyes back to Carol's face. She was looking a little pissed. Probably would be more than a little pissed if she knew what he was thinking.

"Why are you acting this way?" _Oh, shit. I don't have to say a word without my lawyer present. And if my lawyer is Michonne? She would be too busy laughing to defend me._

"Don't know what you're talking about".

"Yes, you do. You got pissed about something at breakfast and stomped off. You are rude to Morgan. Now you keep staring at me like you never saw me before and yes, my eyes are up her and not down there. So why in the hell are you acting this way?" Her voice rose a little and Judith seemed concerned. Carol's face was flushed and she really looked hot.

"What do you expect a man to do? You're wearing that shirt."

Carol looked at her shirt. "It's a white shirt. I expect you to not act like a horny teenager for no good reason."

"The shirt shows off your… assets. You look sexy in that shirt. Your ass looks fantastic in those pants. Morgan noticed and so did Rick. I'm not the only one. I bet if we took Judith for a walk every man we meet will give you a second and maybe a third look. Just saying."

"So you are blaming your weird behavior on the shirt? The shirt is evil and it has taken possession of your soul. And you just can't help yourself." She is really pissed now.

"The answer is yes." Confuse the hell out of her.

Carol looked aggravated, "I think I forgot the question."

"You asked me if I wanted to screw around when we got to prison. The answer is yes. I want to screw around. With you."

"Daryl, are you alright? Did something happen out there? Do we need to take you to the doctor?"

He stepped closer to her, "I don't need a doctor. I got tied up and left out in the woods to be on the evening buffet. Knew that I didn't want to die. Thought about things I wanted to do and never had the courage. I want to screw around. With you."

He kissed her which wasn't all that easy because she wasn't kissing back and he was carrying Judith. "You didn't ask me what I wanted."

Daryl kissed her one more time, "What do you want, Carol? "

"I don't know what I want. We're in the middle of a shitstorm. There's thousands of walkers wandering around close to us and the Wolves may come back at any second. So, no I don't want to screw around. I want my clothes on and my mind focused on how to stay alive."

Daryl looked at Judith who had observed the kissing with real interest, "Judith, Aunt Carol needs to relax. Needs some tlc and some s-e-x. Carol, let's give ourselves a reason to make it through the next series unfortunate events."

Judith grinned at him. Daryl would have kissed Carol again but his lawyer and Obi-Wan Kenobi showed up. Michonne looked at the two of them and grinned at him, "You two look like you are up to something."

Morgan smiled at Carol, "You look very pretty today, Miss Carol."

Carol looked at Morgan and a smirking Daryl, "I'm taking Judith upstairs to her room to play. You two can go to hell." She took Judith from Daryl and started upstairs. Daryl watched her go and then trailed along behind them.

Michonne laughed, "Excellent work, Morgan. You have the gratitude of every member of Team Family."

Daryl ignored them and continued upstairs. Carol was sitting on the rocking chair. Judith was in her crib having a deep conversation with her butterfly mobile. "I don't mean to upset you, Carol. I was pissed because you made cinnamon rolls this morning. You know they are my favorite and you made them when I wasn't here."

"I made them because I was terrified that something bad had happened to you. I made them because I thought you would come home if I made them."

"You look so good in that shirt. You look beautiful, strong and powerful, and full of life in that shirt."

"I put it on because you came back. Michonne gave it me because she said it didn't fit her. I tried it on and I liked it, but it didn't quite fit with the Junior League me. I'm not playing that role anymore."

Daryl said, "Let's go sit on the steps and feel the sun on our faces. Let's just enjoy being alive."

"So you aren't going to acting all weird anymore?"

"I know you will let me into your bed tonight. You made me cinnamon rolls and put on the shirt because I was home. The answer is still yes."

Carol laughed, "Okay, tonight if we are still alive I will screw around. With you."

"You hav

"

"


End file.
